LAURA SAMUEL
As well as being one of the UK’s leading chamber musicians, Laura Samuel is the new leader of the BBC Scottish Symphont Orchestra. She has been guest leader of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Iceland Symphony Orchestra and guest director/leader of the City of London Sinfonia.
Born in London in 1976 Ms Samuel studied with Itzhak Rashkovsky at the Royal College of Music in London. She co-founded the Belcea Quartet in 1994 and was a member for 16 years. Her work with the Belcea quartet has gathered many awards including first prize in the Osaka and Bordeaux International Competitions and a Gramophone Award. She is also a renowned concerto soloist and has performed with the English Chamber Orchestra and the Trondheim Soloists, and most recently performed the Barber Violin Concerto at the Queen Elizabeth Hall as part of the South Bank Bernstein Project.
She joined the London Bridge Ensemble in 2010 is also a member of the Nash Ensemble. She has taught at the Royal College of Music and Royal Northern College of Music and currently teaches at the Chamber Studio at Kings Place in London. Ms Samuel plays the ‘Nissel’ Stradivarius violin made in 1731.